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Music Therapy Research Paper

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Music therapy is not a very well known form of therapy. I believe that many people think that listening to music can make you feel better but don’t actually know that it can be used in real therapy sessions. Music therapy is used within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, cognitive, emotional, and social needs of an individual. (AmericanMusicTherapyAssociation) In this paper I will be talking about how music therapy is effective in individuals with autism, the history of music therapy, and how it’s effective in people for pain management. For people with autism music therapy is used to effect change in behavior and create skills. (MusicTherapyPerspectives) Music provides auditory and visual stimulations. It can also manage stress, …show more content…

However, using music for healing was used during ancient times and it’s even said in biblical scriptures. (HistoryofMusicTherapy) The power of music is just as strong now as it was before it’s just used in a different way. The music therapy profession became more popular during World War 1 and World War 2. (HisotryofMusicTherapy) Music was used in Veterans Administrative hospitals to address traumatic war injuries, these veterans did activities that focused on relieving pain perception. (HistoryofMusicTherapy) Since then, colleges and universities trained musicians how to use music for therapeutic purposes. (HistoryofMusicTherapy) In 1950 an organization was fored by music therapists who worked with veterans, mentally retarded, hearing/visually impaired, and psychiatric population. This was the beginning of the National Association for Music Therapy or the NAMT. (HisotryofMusicTherapy) In 1998 NAMT joined forces with another music therapy organization which is now what we have called the American Music Therapy Association or AMTA. …show more content…

Music therapy is offered by many pain centers and cancer centers. (MusicTherapyforPainManagment) The music distracts the individual from the pain so they can focus on the music. Music therapy helps people with pain by lowering blood pressure, reducing heart rate, and relaxing muscle tension. (MusicTherapy) These people can be conditioned to feel relaxed when calming music comes on during a time where they have tension and worry. (MusicTherapy) Music therapy can also change mood, cue positive visual imagery, cause deep relaxation response, and provide musical stimulus for rhythmic breathing. (MusicTherapy) After so many sessions with a music therapist, patients in chronic pain learn to relax just as they hear the music. (MusicTherapyforPainManagement) These therapy sessions can include making music, listening to music, singing along to songs, writing music, and meditating with music in the back-round. (MusicTherapyforPainManagement) A lot of the brain pathways that process music also process pain so when focusing on the music it competes with the pain. (MoreMusicLessPain) Actively listening to music can help with pain that’s only happening at the moment because while focusing and really listening to the songs it distracts you, but for chronic pain zoning out to relaxing music instead of focusing in helps more. (MoreMusicLessPain) The type of music that helps people the most just depends on what kind

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